Team-Building Activities Will Make Your Team Gel

Yaneke Wright-Lewis

November 20, 2022

Team-building activities don't have to be boring events that workers shun or politely tolerate. They can be fun, effective and purposeful exercises that improve your team.

What Do Team-building Activities Accomplish?

Colleagues learn each other's interests, strengths, weaknesses, and communication style
Teams work more effectively
Employers identify gaps and strengths in individual members
Participants learn how to put aside personal differences so they can focus on mutual goals
Team-building activities build trust
They remind team members that work is about the entire group, and not them

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What Factors Affect the Choice of Team-building Activities?

Aim

Although team-building efforts have the same general objectives, the specific aim of each setup will be unique. Deciding on 3 or 4 of your most important outcomes ahead of time will ensure your event is satisfying.

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Some aims can be:

To identify team leaders and decision-makers.
To resolve hostility between team members
To address general indifference related to work
To fix poor workplace communication
To create better task distribution among team members
To acknowledge new members and their ideas
To correct irregular time management

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Group size

The number of employees who need to participate in the event will determine the nature of the activities. Organizing an event for a large company will be different from a small group approach.

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Small groups

Team-building activities for small groups need little or no equipment and can be played by a small number of participants. Small teams will have to work closely together over long periods. This means employees will be "forced" to understand each other and communicate well. Popular small group tasks include Human Knot, Perfect Square, Blind Retriever or even a team lunch!

Large groups

Organizing team building events for large groups takes careful planning, but it has its advantages.

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For example, large groups bring remarkable energy that make sessions more engaging. Team building events for large groups can also improve relationships with people who may not usually interact with each other. You can do an ongoing tournament, or one-off activities like a Field Day or Laser Tag.

Environment

There are three environmental options to consider :

In a meeting
On a workday
Out of office

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One aspect that will affect the kind of team-enhancing activity is the location. Going off the company property can be exciting but the cost could be a deterrent. Utilizing a large space at your company’s headquarters might be a good financial alternative, but workers may not appreciate the familiar space of work. On the other hand, hosting the team-building experience on site can make the office feel like a place of camaraderie.

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Encouraging teamwork is crucial to an organization's overall growth. Even seemingly small issues that are overlooked due to the sheer size of the workforce can become significant hindrances. Organizing team activities frequently is a great opportunity to address such issues even before they become a problem.

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